1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to socket wrenches, and more particularly to a socket for these types of wrenches where the socket is capable of adjustably adapting to different sizes of polygonal bolt heads, nuts or similar fastening hardware.
2. Background of Invention
There presently exists a large variety of wrenches used to tighten and loosen fastening devices such as a conventional bolt having a polygonal (typically hexagonal) bolt head and threaded nut. One popular type of wrench is the conventional socket wrench which grips the bolt head or nut with a cylindrically shaped socket having an interior surface formed to mate with the particular size and polygonal shape of the bolt head or nut. These socket wrenches are especially useful since they are usually employed with a ratcheting mechanism that allows continuous turning of the bolt head or nut without repositioning the wrench as required by convention crescent or open faced wrenches.
However, a common drawback of socket type wrenches is the necessity of having a separate socket for each of the standard sized bolt heads or nuts commonly found in the environment in which the wrench is used. It is common experience that considerable time is wasted switching from one socket to another when tightening or loosening bolts of different sizes. Often the user of the socket wrench must attempt placing two or three sockets on a bolt before determining which socket is actually the correct size. Furthermore, to accommodate the size range of bolts typically encountered requires carrying a large number or a full "set" of variously sized sockets. Generally this set of sockets is must be carried in some sort of case and the set is ruined if a single socket is lost.
It would be a significant advance in the art to provide a single a wrench socket that would be able to accommodate a large range of bolt sizes and thereby eliminate the many disadvantages discussed above. It would also be advantageous if the wrench socket were easily adjusted to the required bolt size and if the wrench socket facilitated making this adjustment with only one hand rather than requiring both hands.